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Glite Dictionary
by hand

by hand

81 2.0
To do something with your hands, for example writing or making things, instead of with a machine
  • idiom
translation icon : a mano
  • She prefers to write all her notes by hand rather than typing them on a computer.
  • made by hand
  • done by hand
  • written by hand

So encoding a lot of knowledge by hand, so it feels like one.

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Examples

  • So laundry, I did my laundry by hand in a bucket.

  • All the feathers are done individually by hand.

    The Magician of Lublin (1979)

  • And they said we do it by hand and by eye, figure it out.

  • Some require you to write by hand every word another hand once wrote.

  • Now of course, you could just do that by hand yourself, it's simple enough.

  • I had to do the back half by hand.

    The Gorge (2025)

  • As you know, everything was done absolutely by hand.

    Moonraker (1979)

  • All of the crime data had to be entered by hand and checked.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Before then, the work had all been done by hand using a wheelbarrow.

    Academic text (1996)

  • She's renovating a very old house by hand so it's taking forever.

    Emily Norris

Synonyms

manually
vsby hand
72 3.5

To do a task using the hands instead of a machine

is the common plain expression for doing work without machines
with bare hands
vsby hand
1 3.5

Using only your hands and no tools or weapons

allows use of simple physical tools rather than excluding all aids

Antonyms

automatically
  • Specialized
257 3.1

Something happens by a machine or system without a person doing it

mechanically
11 3.7

In a way done by a machine or without a person doing it

How Manual

by hand
81 2.0
mechanically
11 3.7
automatically
  • Specialized
257 3.1

Surface Forms

by hand positive

Morphology

by + hand

The meaning 'manually; using your hands' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'by' (marking means/instrument) with 'hand' (the body part), so a learner who knows both words can infer the phrase. This instrumentality construction is common across languages and follows standard English patterns, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The phrase by hand comes from the clear picture of doing a task with your own hands, like writing with a pen or shaping clay, instead of using a machine. So by hand means 'manually' or 'not using machines'.